Getting to know the Aims

Getting to know the Aims

Failure is the ultimate result of any task whose aims are unknown. And Almighty Allah says in Surah al-Mulk (Sovereignty), verse 22:
{Is he who walks prone on his face better guided,
or he who walks upright on a straight path?}

Sayyed Ali al-Khamenei says: “Your secret lies in the remarkable awareness you have and in the knowledge you embrace- you know why you are here and why you are fighting!”

He also points out that this knowledge is not limited to knowing the broad aim of this warfare, but in also knowing the sub-detailed practical and momentary aims, as well.

“The Revolutionary Guard has to know the nature of its foundation’s role and position; they have to be insightful, with a great political and contextual awareness.”

Identifying the role encompasses identifying the nature of the aims and tools alongside. Muslim individuals and the entire Ummah, as well, are obliged with an integral set of Islamic canons; however, in order to help better illustrate the integral image of this set the position of the Jihad should be identified first.

“It is greatly important to know the position, the role, the tasks and the functioning sphere of the military power [of the Revolutionary Guard] in order to prevent any degree of surpassing, neglect, or overlapping of tasks.”

The Aims Identified

The Jihad embodies two main projects: an individual project and another social project that is for the interest of the Ummah as a whole.

The Personal Aims

The utmost aims of all worshiping deeds and the most common aims that all faithful and especially the Mujahideen aim at are: attaining Allah’s pleasure even if the price is Martyrdom!

1. Attaining Allah’s Pleasure:

This is the utmost aim of any single active or motionless position a Muslim may take.
“The front is the field where Allah is worshiped. There, nothing other than becoming pious should occupy our minds; the day we are pious, the day all of the other aims could be achieved.”

Being the path that leads to Allah’s pleasure, the Jihad is then a Divine success and blessing!

The Lord of Believers Imam Ali, Peace be upon him, says:
“The Jihad is one of the Heaven’s gates;
Allah has opened [specifically] for His prominent custodians;
it is the garment of piety;
it is the well-fortified armor of Allah;
it is His guaranteed Heaven!”1

2. Martyrdom

The tough Jihad for the sake of Allah, His religion and the entire Ummah, no matter how long the Jihadi situation may last, it will definitely come with results that go for the side of the Godwary and the Mujahideen. The Imams have always waited for the moment of their martyrdom; moreover, they consider it as a Divine honor!

Imam Ali Bin al-Hussein, peace be upon them, has addressed the oppressor Ibn Ziyad as saying:
“Oh Ibn Ziyad,
Is it killing that you are threatening me?
Not knowing that being killed is usual to us
and martyrdom is our honor?”2

The favoring of martyrdom is the Islamic methodology that is set by the Imams, peace be upon all of them.

Almighty Allah illustrates that victory and martyrdom are both the favored outcome for the faithful and especially the Mujahideen. Allah says in Surah al-Tawbah (Sovereignty), verse 52:

{Say,
‘Do you await anything to befall us
except one of the two excellences?}3

Sayyed Ali al-Khamenei says: “Every one of you should be as active as to the extent that his own outcome will be martyrdom; By Allah I swear, nothing else should be the outcome of your life other than martyrdom…we have to bear this in mind.”

The Social Aims

The aims of the Jihad are not limited at the personal level. Indeed, they go so far beyond; they are in the heart of the social movement. The special impacts of the Jihad in the social sphere are manifested in accomplishing the social interests that are presented in the following points:

1. Rising Up the Ummah for Allah’s Sake

Allah says in Surah Saba’ (Sheba), verse 46: {Say, ‘I give you just a single advice: that you rise up for Allah’s sake…}”
Rising up for the sake of Allah implies providing the support and defense of the entire religion along with its canons, principles and limitations.

“Allah’s own right precedes any other personal wish, favoring or satisfaction. You have to obey Allah’s canons despite the stance of other people- whether they would be happy or angry, this must not affect you. Some people become upset about implementing the Divine canons simply because these canons do not meet with their interests.”

2. Defending Homeland and Independence

Independence is becoming increasingly important just as the greediness of the colonizers is becoming endless. The national culture requires being tough and powerful enough to put an end to any rival greediness. Thank Allah, the Revolutionary Guard provides the country with this required power, so as to preserve national dependence.

“With the absence of a military power, no civilization would be able to achieve its own independence or even preserve it once achieved.”

With the absence of the military power alongside, the other scientific or economical powers would never be satisfactory. The Revolutionary Guard has always to be in active situations performing its tasks fully in all of the required fields and backing all of the other national capabilities.

“The wisdom that lies behind having the Revolutionary Guard is having a state of defense that protects the boundaries and the sovereignty of the homeland, as well as the identity and the independence of the populations.”

3. Extracting Oppression

The true faithful Muslim is the person who can never be satisfied by being adhered to the canons that are individualistic; his concern must go far beyond any personal, racial, geographical or regional boundaries. He has to have a high common sense. He has always to be a missionary person who helps in the relief of oppression wherever found or practiced. He has to spread justice wherever and whenever possible.

“Islam urges that the confrontation against the oppressor and the help of the aggrieved do not stop at any certain boundaries.”

4. Mobilizing the People

The fronts must always be at high alert and all set. But, the will and the intention must be well-determined, first. Any indications of frustrations, inactivation, or powerlessness would be a chance for the enemies to attack and perhaps dominate the national resources, and causing humiliation the community no matter how strong it had been in terms of its resources and capabilities; as a result, such defeated community would begin working on neutralizing itself, that is why it is necessary to bring such a community back to the confronting fields. That is why demonstrating a model in Jihad is important in this case because it helps in getting the populations motivated and getting their Jihadi potentialities activated in their collective consciousness.

It is also necessary to stay all the time well-determined so that the entire Ummah keeps its confidence and self-esteem high. And this is exactly the purpose of having a constant Jihadi atmosphere.

“Let it be well-known that once the Jihadi path is taken by any population and that this population has got- Allah willing- the fruitful results of the Jihad, soon this population will be a model for the rest of populations in the world.”